Store Puts Diamonds on the Diamond

August 1, 2009byRob Bates

Steed Jewelers, in Vestavia Hills, Ala., has come up with a way to enliven the sporting events at local Samford University—and promote its store besides.

At a recent baseball game, Steed Jewelers held its second-ever “diamond dig” at the small Baptist college. It hid a diamond cross, worth about $750, on the field the night before. Following the game, it gave every woman in attendance a metal spoon. The women crowded around on the “diamond” and dug. It took 15 or 20 minutes, but someone found it.

“[The winner] couldn’t have been more grateful,” says store owner Dale Steed. “It couldn’t have happened to a better person. Afterwards we gave her a little gift box. It was a good promotion.”

He only regrets that the event didn’t happen during the seventh inning stretch. “The game was a blowout, so you kind of lose people,” he says. “But we had our name promoted throughout the game.”

The store also sponsors the team’s bat girls—here called “diamond girls.”

“We plan on doing the promotion again next year,” says Steed. “It’s good because it gets your name out there. And it’s great to do it on a college campus, because people are always getting engaged.”